Two people were recognized and awarded for their dedication to the New Concord community during the Board of Trade banquet Tuesday evening.

Anna Scheid — awarded the Community Service Award — and Derrick Gingerich — awarded the Outstanding New Concord Area Board of Trade Executive Board Member — were both awarded certificates and honored at the banquet for their separate contributions to the community.

Scheid has been coordinating the Love Fund in New Concord for 39 years. The former manager of diner on Main Street, Scheid began the Love Fund when she learned of a family in the county going without Christmas presents. She simply placed a can out at the diner to collect change and donations to buy presents and provide a meal for the family for Christmas.

The next year, Scheid’s phone rang again with information about multiple families that couldn’t afford to have Christmas.

Over the years, many community members, and people far beyond the New Concord community, have donated funds annually to supply a ever-growing list of Christmas presents for children in need.

“It’s just God and me and everybody that helps out. That’s it,” Scheid. “And it’s mostly God.”

One year, Scheid, who also formerly owned a childcare service, recalls speaking to a parent of one of the children she supervised asking the mother to pray that she would find people to shop for the remaining children in need of presents on her list.

“When she went to leave, I said, ‘Pray because I have like 60 cards left, and I don’t know where I’m going to get people to shop for them,’” Scheid said.

Later that evening, the mother was on the phone with her uncle that lived in Texas and told him she was out shopping for children as part of the Love Fund, and the uncle said he wanted to cover the cost of gifts for the remaining children.

Originally, the check was going to be for $3,000 to cover the rest of the children. Days later Scheid learned of more children that needed presents. When the check arrived in the mail, it was for $5,000 and covered the cost of all of the presents needed.

“Just miracle after miracle after miracle happens over all these years,” Scheid said. “I just am (a) willing vessel and He just brings it in and makes everybody help me.”

Last year, the Love Fund provided presents for 599 children.

Following Scheid’s award, the New Concord Board of Trade recognized its current president, Gingerich, for his outstanding contributions to the community, as well.

Gingerich has been the president of the board for three years and was formerly a director for seven years.

During his time with the board, Gingerich said he has worked diligently behind the scenes organizing and doing paperwork in order for events to happen.

As a John Glenn High School and Muskingum University Graduate, Gingerich is very committed to New Concord. Since 2005, Derek said he’s worked outside the village’s community for two years.

With his recent transfer to the Zanesville branch of the Community Bank, Gingerich has left New Concord but is thankful that his move his close enough to allow him to continue his work in the village community.

“It’s a special place. I love that it’s a small community,” Gingerich said. “I like that I can walk down the street and wave at everybody I know, and I take a lot of pride in the school system also — the East Muskingum School and Muskingum. It’s a good place to get an education, good place to raise a family, good place to work.”

Both Scheid and Gingerich were humbled by their unexpected awards and emphasized the importance of their small village community.

To learn more about the New Concord Board of Trade, visit the organization’s Facebook Page.